Guido had a chat with Patrick Mercer this afternoon following this morning’s revelations about the parliamentary pass that he gave the managing director of a security firm that just happens to pay him a monthly fee. Mercer claims that he can check whenever Kevin Horak of Clearwater Security enters the building, but has never done so: “We have an agreement.. when he comes down he tells me, when he’s in Parliament I know what he is doing.” So why the need for the pass?

Guido dug into what exactly it is that Mercer does for his monthly stipend from Clearwater Security and he happily acknowledged it was simply for him to introduce the firm to potential clients – individuals and organisations that require security services. He claims his payment was cut because he wasn’t very good at it. Hmm…

The Newark MP claims that there is no conflict of interest because he doesn’t do this “consultancy work” on Parliamentary time, but given that he is the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Security Group the grey area is huge. Mercer claims that he did not get into the security world through being an MP, but could not really explain how these introductions were done “exclusive of Parliament” given his job – “that’s a moot point.” Indeed it is…

Guido would argue that a Chairman of an All Party Parliamentary Group for Security should not be taking money off private security firms – even if it has been declared – especially as that money is given in return for introductions to potential clients for that firm.